Hey!!!

How has everybody been??:) It's so good to finally be able to email back to you guys. Life is going good here at the MTC. I can't believe how fast it's going though. Can you believe I have less than 3 weeks before I head over to Portugal?:) I'm so excited. Yesterday we got one of our teachers off topic and started asking every question about Portugal that you can think of and she was so happy to tell us. This sister has only been off of her mission to Lisbon for 3 months now so everything is still fresh in her mind and she was really excited to tell us about it. It made our whole district really anxious and excited to leave:) ha.

Well, Elder Bell and I have been getting tons of time in at the T.E to practice teaching. I'm really glad we are because I have become so much more comfortable with teaching people than I was when I first got here, and our teaching has improved so much. Yesterday was our weekly TRC where we go in and teach one of the teachers. Yesterday, we had to pretend like we were at a store and we were asking the "store clerk" tons of questions about the price, clothing, and accessories. After that, we were asked to share a brief message with him and tell him who we are and what we do. Then, we walked out of the room, turned around, pretended it was his house, and knocked on the door. When he let us in, we taught him the first lesson in Portuguese. I still struggle with Portuguese so it was a little tough for me, but when we were done and receiving feedback, he told us that we both did a great job and he could understand us:) so that really helped out:)

Well we moved into our new classroom about a week ago. It's a lot bigger and we have super nice rolly chairs that are padded. No skylights though:( To be honest it's a little depressing because there are no windows in this room. Our last classroom had a perfect window that had a great view of the temple. But it's ok because our new room is so much bigger and nicer. It's just missing a window that's all. Speaking of the temple, me and my district finally get to go to the temple today:) cool huh?:) They are finally done cleaning it or doing whatever they did. We are leaving in about an hour and a half!! I'm really excited.

Oh... so you know how when you dropped me off at the MTC and there was a bunch of missionaries standing on the curb waiting to help me with my bags and such? They are called hosts, and lucky for my district, we get to be hosts this week YAY!!!!! ha. I'm so excited. Now I can finally witness all those new missionaries coming in, without actually being one. I'll be the biggest comfort that I can to them. Our district thought it would be funny to put our hand on the new missionarie's shoulder and say "Leave while you still can" right as the family was getting back in the car...hahaha. We aren't going to do that though, that would be very rude... (though it would be kind of fun to see their reaction.) I walked past a crying mother on my way to gym earlier this week as she was dropping her son off. It made me realize how tough the first day was and I was tempted to put my hand on her shoulder and say "Don't worry, my mom is recovering, you can too:)" hahaha. That day seemed like yesterday that I was dropped off here and here I am, already starting to get ready to leave to Portugal.

Well once again my time here is limited, but I want you all to know how thankful I am to have you as my family. It's very interesting...being here at the MTC for almost two months really helped me to realize how much I love you all. I am truly blessed to be a part of our family. I love you all SO much and I miss every one of you like CRAZY!!!! You are always in my heart and in my mind ALWAYS!!! I want you all to know that I have a strong testimony of this gospel. This gospel is the most amazing thing on this earth, and I don't know where we would be today without it!! I'm starting to realize that my mission isn't going to be a walk in the park. These next two years are going to be very tough but so glorious at the same time. If a mission weren't tough, it wouldn't be worth it. I feel so honored to represent my savior Jesus Christ. After everything that Christ had to suffer because of me, and all the love He has, I feel that a mission is a great way to show him that I am thankful for him. I will work my best to represent Him. He truly is our Savior and I'll bear anything for him.

Well I love you all SO much. I miss you and I love to hear from you in your letters. Keep writing them please:)

Love,
Elder Willes

P.S. Dad, just so you don't have a heart attack and in case you didn't know already, I got the debit card:)